‘Inos wasn’t under pressure to sign Public Law 17-51’

Press secretary Angel A. Demapan said the Fitial administration wasn’t under any pressure to approve Public Law 17-51, or the beneficiaries’ derivative act, that was signed by the Lt. Gov. Eloy Inos S. last week.

Demapan made this clarification in reaction to claims that the then acting governor was pressured to approve the legislation.

Demapan said the bill underwent a thorough review before it was enacted and that the Fitial administration heard both arguments for and against the bill.

“Lt. Gov. Inos reviewed the bill thoroughly, met with both opponents and proponents of the bill, and made an informed decision,” he told Saipan Tribune.

Public Law 17-51, which allows retirees and other Fund beneficiaries to take legal action on behalf of the NMI Retirement Fund when trustees who manage them refuse to bring such actions, was signed Sept. 5, which was a holiday. The governor had until Sept. 24 to act on the bill.

“Although the deadline is Sept. 24th, it does not necessarily mean the bill can only be signed that day. It just means that’s the absolute last day to sign,” he said, adding that bills have been signed the minute they were transmitted, days after, and even on the very last minute.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, who was off-island last week, has reportedly promised the Fund officials that he will junk the bill as he was not in support of it. This was announced by the board of trustees in a recent board meeting.

Fund officials strongly opposed the passage of the beneficiaries’ derivative act, citing the adverse impact it will bring to the pension program. Just a day after the law was signed, two money managers terminated their contracts with the Fund and the remaining managers, including its investment consultant Wilshire Associates, are expected to follow suit.

In Thursday’s emergency meeting of the Fund board, members spent hours in executive session weighing their options on the said law. The sole agenda in the closed-door meeting was whether or not to challenge the law in court.

According to Demapan, the decision to challenge the beneficiaries’ derivative law is all up to the Fund.

“That’s a decision entirely up to the Fund. The justice system has served as an effective forum to determine the validity of laws,” he told Saipan Tribune.

Fitial said last Friday that he’s not happy that Inos signed the contentious bill affecting the Fund despite what he said was a previous agreement between him and Inos not to sign the measure. The governor said he talked about the derivative bill before he left for New Caledonia to spearhead the CNMI’s bid to the 2017 Pacific Mini Games.

A member of the House, Rep. George Camacho (Cov-Saipan), has offered to introduce an amendment to the newly signed law. He was among the members who opposed the bill.